The Chloe Parable
by Scarlet Silhouette
Summary: A teenage girl wakes up in a video game. The Narrator thinks she's Stanley. Chaos ensues. Rated T for strong language, as well as depictions of injuries, depression, death, and suicide. Please be careful if you're sensitive to these subjects.
1. The Confusion

"This is the story of a man named Stanley."

Those are the first words the girl heard upon waking. She watched as she was taken through a set of offices, going into a room marked with the number 427. Initially, confusion bubbled up inside her as the Narrator calmly explained who Stanley was and his job. Why was she here? Where exactly was 'here' anyway? How did she get here? She couldn't quite recall. But… she couldn't shake her curiosity and listen in to what the Narrator said.

Her name is Chloe. She was a high school student, just approaching her senior year. Last she remembered, she was sitting calmly in bed, earbuds in, a slight ache in her left ear from a healing ear infection. Her phone rested beside her as she typed away on a story she never finished. Her fan whirred above her. Light streamed in from the windows. All was calm. Everything was perfect.

But none of that was with her now. Chloe had fallen asleep, perhaps only a moment, and she awoke here. Perhaps this was a strange dream? If so, she may as well tag along for the ride. When she was finally able to move, she found herself in the office of Stanley. She looked down at herself, realizing she was now wearing a business suit, dress pants, and dress shoes. Chloe grinned. As much as she hated to admit it, she liked this outfit. Other than that, Chloe felt normal. Long, black hair, glasses, and a stomach that she had tried to force into her pants in order to slim down.

Finally, she decided to stand and left the office.

"All of his coworkers were gone. What could it mean? Stanley decided to head to the meeting room. Perhaps he had simply missed a memo."

Chloe tried to speak, to ask where the meeting room was and who this strange voice was addressing, but no voice came out of her. She covered her mouth in shock. Granted, she was always a rather quiet girl, but being unable to speak terrified her. How could she tell the Narrator that this was a mistake? That she wasn't Stanley? Did he even know, or was he just dealing with what he had been given?

Still, that unrelenting curiosity pushed her forward. Chloe walked through the office, glancing around at her new surroundings. 'This is a rather nice place,' she thought. Whoever this Stanley guy is certainly has a decent job, even if it was a boring job pushing buttons. 'Maybe the boredom was too much for the others,' Chloe joked.

Chloe kept moving forward until she reached a set of doors.

"When Stanley came to a set of two open doors, he entered the door on his left."

Chloe glanced over at the door on the right. Temptation arose. She moved closer to it, trying to figure out what was there, but she couldn't see very far down the hallway. 'Oh, what the hell,' she thought as she ventured down the right hallway. Immediately, the Narrator's reply came, "This was not the correct way to the meeting room, and Stanley knew it perfectly well. Perhaps he wanted to stop by the employee lounge first, just to admire it."

Chloe grinned. The Narrator was clearly trying to adapt to her. She appreciated it, even if it was a little bit silly. When she did reach the lounge, she was indeed pleased by how nice the room was. At the very least, it seemed pretty comfy. Chloe was immediately drawn to the soda machine against the wall. She searched her pockets for any sort of change, but she didn't have any. Annoyed, she decided to leave, making a mental note to return if she ever came back this way.

Chloe heard the booming voice of the Narrator once more, stating that she must now go through the maintenance section. Once more, she saw an alternate route and was tempted to go through. But she realized she had enough rebellion for today and started to head back in the correct direction. That's when she saw a button with a small lift. Now… she was supposed to be a man that loved to press buttons. So honestly, what did you expect her to do?

Chloe descended down the lift, curious as to where this would lead her. Quickly, the Narrator chimed in, "Instead, Stanley wanted to wander around in order to get even more lost. Now, to get back to the story, we need to go in… um…"

Chloe tried to laugh at the Narrator's confusion, but no sound came from her mouth. The Narrator, however, was quick to notice, "H-hey, you were the one that wandered off, and I'm trying to get you back on track! Now hush!"

Chloe stuck her tongue out for a moment before "zipping" her mouth closed.

"Good. Now, we should go through here, I believe. Yes, yes, come along, Stanley!"

The garage door opened. Realizing she had nowhere else to go, Chloe went through, making her way to-

"NO! You're not supposed to see this yet! This is a spoiler! Quick, Stanley, close your eyes!"

Chloe obeyed, covering her eyes with her hands. However, curiosity got the better of her and she peeked between her fingers. Her hands dropped to her side as she saw a room covered wall to wall in illuminated television screens. A shudder went up her spine as she realized that there were numbers on each glowing monitor. She glanced at her own number, and the picture changed to footage of her office. Chloe stumbled back, realizing that she was being watched constantly.

In response to Chloe's reaction, the Narrator let out an exhausted sigh. "And this is why I told you not to look… Not that it matters, anyway. I can't salvage this. I'm going to have to restart. Wait for one moment, would you?"

Chloe blinked and she was back at the office. She jolted up, looking around her in a frenzied daze. She staggered out, listening as the Narrator repeated, "All of his coworkers were gone. What could it mean? Stanley decided to go to the meeting room, perhaps he had simply missed a memo."

Chloe waved frantically, trying to communicate that something was wrong. The Narrator's cold response was, "Just follow my directions this time, Stanley. Otherwise, you'll just get lost again."

'Stop calling me that…' Chloe thought, slowly moving onwards. She expected everything to be the same, except… when she reached the room with the two doors, there were instead several all around her. A sinking feeling came on, as she couldn't possibly choose between so many options. The Narrator reacted, "When Stanley came… wait. What? No. No, no, I restarted! ...Did something change? Stanley, did you change anything?"

Chloe shook her head.

After a pause, the Narrator responded, "Wait… why am I asking you? I'm the one who wrote the story!"

Chloe nodded, crossing her arms.

The Narrator huffed. "Look, I'm trying my best here. I swear the story was here, just a minute ago! Well… I suppose… this is an adventure. Go along, Stanley. Find the story!"

All of the doors swung open. Chloe's eyes sparkled. She raced around the rooms, trying to find a way out. After a while of running, her legs grew tired and her lungs burned. She sat down on the floor, right back where she started. "Tired, hm?" The Narrator asked.

Chloe nodded.

"Ah. I was planning on stopping you, but you seemed to be having fun."

Chloe glared up at the ceiling. The sarcasm wasn't lost on her.

"Well, I suppose the only way to fix this is to restart. While I can't say if we'll make any progress restarting over and over again, I suppose it will be better than this."

Chloe blinked. And she was back at the office. Again, she was a little shaken, but she was at least expecting it this time. She arose, listened to the Narrator again, and went to the room without any doors.

...Chloe suddenly realized that something went wrong again.

The Narrator spoke up, "Oh no, yeah, it's worse. Why don't we go back in the other direction?"

The door behind Chloe reopened. She didn't seem happy to be going back.

"What? There might be something!"

'Yeah, the same rooms I've seen three times already.'

But Chloe relented. But to her surprise, the room was different.

"See, I told you! The story! Here it comes…!"

And what came was a dead end. Chloe kicked the wall in frustration.

The Narrator piped up, "H-hey, hey, calm down! Don't go destroying the map! Why don't we just go back and retrace our steps?"

'Fine…' Chloe thought, losing her temper.

But the other direction wasn't any better. It seemed like a warehouse, beaten up and left to rot. Chloe looked up at the ceiling, tilting her head slightly.

The Narrator responded, "No. I have no idea where we are. Do you recognize this place at all? Even a bit?"

Chloe shook her head.

"Of course you don't. In fact, I don't remember this place at all. I thought we were in an office building, am I correct?"

Chloe nodded.

"Well, now that I have no idea where we are, how about this. You win! Congratulations!"

Chloe brightly smiled, clapping her hands together. For a moment, she thought this would allow her to go home, but her disappointment set in with the Narrator's words, "No, no, no, I don't feel right about this at all. You didn't earn a victory at all."

Chloe's smile quickly vanished. That's when the guilt set in. She was the reason why they were in this mess, wasn't she? If she had just listened to the Narrator, maybe she'd be home by now, back with her family, her friends, her cute little cat. They must be so worried about her… Without realizing it, Chloe began tearing up.

The Narrator quickly said, "Hey, wait, calm down! I didn't mean it like that! Let's just restart. This place is making me uncomfortable…"

Chloe blinked. And she was back in the office. She sunk back in her chair. 'What's the point of all this?' she asked herself, 'We're just going to keep resetting and resetting forever. At this rate, I'll never get back home.'

That's when she noticed the bright yellow line before the office door. Chloe stood up and walked towards it. The Narrator proudly told her, "Hello, Stanley! This time, to make sure we don't get lost, I've employed the help of The Stanley Parable Adventure Line(™)! Just follow the Line(™)! How simple is that?"

Chloe nodded, deciding that this was a good idea. Maybe this would even be… fun? Putting her feet on the line, Chloe followed it. A small trace of excitement even crept in as she noticed the line sent her through new halls, places she never explored before. Finally, some variety in this god-forsaken place! As Chloe walked, the Narrator talked, "Though, here's a thought: wouldn't wherever we end up be our destination, even if there's no story there? Or, to put it another way, is the story of no destination still a story? Simply by the act of moving forward are we implying a journey such that a destination is inevitably conjured into being via the very manifestation of the nature of life itself? Okay, Stanley, I need to follow this train of thought for a minute, just stick with me…"

At this point, he had already lost her. Chloe was fixated on following the line. She found herself walking along, a slight bounce in her step, observing the various twists and turns of the line. It was almost hypnotic as it took her along its path. Her attention only returned to the Narrator after he spoke up, "Wait, wait, wait. Sorry, that got a bit weird back there. I don't really know where I was going with all that."

Chloe merely shrugged, a bright smile on her face. 'It's okay! I wasn't exactly listening anyway…'

"Hey! Why don't I brighten the mood with some music!"

Suddenly, upbeat music blasted around her. Chloe's smile only widened. Without thinking, she skipped along the path, trying to hum along, but being unable to. In a lighter mood, she began to hop and twirl about. She even began dancing as she walked along. She was no good at it. She bumped into a filing cabinet during her little dance. The Narrator laughed. "You look ridiculous, Stanley!"

Instead of being mad, however, Chloe just silently laughed at herself and the mess she was in. Boy, would she have a story to tell! Not like anybody would believe her. Bah! It's fun anyway! As she happily trotted along, the music suddenly stopped.

"Wait! Stanley, go back and look at that fern!"

Chloe did so.

"This fern is going to be very important later in the story. Remember every detail. You don't want to miss anything."

Chloe did so. She got as close as possible to the fern, running her hand along its leaves. The Narrator snapped, "But don't touch it! That's cheating! You wouldn't want another fake victory, now would you?"

Chloe snatched her hand away, shaking her head. She was still smiling. She then continued on and on and on along the path until… Chloe stopped. Her smile was gone. She looked up at the Narrator. She couldn't see him, wherever he was, but she knew he saw it too. He blurted out, "Wait, we're back at the office. No! Line(™), we're trying to find The Stanley Parable! The story? Is any of this ringing a bell?"

Chloe hesitated to keep going. But she knew there was no better option. She kept following the line. And then she saw those damned monitors again. Defeated, she put her head in her hands as the Narrator berated the line for taking them back here. When she removed her hands, she was back in the office again.

Instead of losing hope once more, Chloe eagerly stood up, wondering what else she could do with the Narrator. Still, the line was there, etched into the ground. Initially, she tried to follow it again. She ran into the door instead.

"You know what, Stanley? I say we forget the Line(™). We're intelligent people, right? Why don't we make up our own story? What do you think? Where do you want to go?"

Chloe's eyes lit up upon hearing this. She brought her hand to her chin, thinking for a moment. She then smiled and pointed at a door at random. It swung open.

"Aha! I like the way you think, Stanley! Let us go and make our own story!"

Chloe practically raced down the hall. She heard the Narrator's voice calmly above her, "Yes! Just me and Stanley forging a new path, a new story! Well, it could be anything! What do you want our story to be? Go wild! Whatever it is, Stanley, I'm ready for it."

She didn't even notice the line's unhappy return. Chloe was already deep in her imagination, turning over idea after idea. She then settled on one she was happy with. The story would be about her and the Narrator, of course. She decided that they would leave this dusty old office and their old lives behind. They would go out and see the world, meet new people, sail the seas and explore the world around them, a world that Chloe knew little about, in her young age. Yes… this all sounded so perfect! Maybe she could convince him to leave, but… he was just a voice. How would that work? Unless he was an actual person somewhere. Hell, Chloe wasn't even sure if anything she was experiencing was real yet. Well, she reasoned, this is just a story. They don't actually have to go anywhere, do they? Though… the idea made Chloe want that…

Chloe's musing was interrupted by the arrival of a pair of doors. This looks familiar. The Narrator said, "Ah! At last! Choice! From now on, the story is in our control! Hm… I need to think about this for a moment. Just walk in circles for a bit."

Chloe nodded, walking around the room. While the Narrator talked above her, her thoughts returned to her little story idea. She had no way to really communicate this idea to the Narrator, she realized. Not that he'd really be interested. They hardly knew each other. Chloe then realized that didn't matter to her. The Narrator, she decided, was her friend. He seemed nice enough, if not a little harsh every now and then.

Chloe then realized that she had been desperate for a friend for quite some time. Someone that she could take on those adventures she imagined. She shook her head. The Narrator probably wouldn't be interested after all. After all, he thought Chloe was Stanley, a boring office worker that pushed buttons, not a teenager that wanted more in her life. Besides, Chloe would need someone a bit closer to her age anyway. Maybe someone at school would be interested? As soon as she came to that decision, the right door swung open. Chloe then entered.

She came to a sudden stop when she saw a schedule. For the… confusion ending? Was there more than one ending in this mess? Well, Chloe reasoned so. And she guessed that following the Narrator's orders, like she should've done, would've gotten her to a different one. Chloe took a closer look at the schedule as the Narrator bellowed, "Wait… this is all one giant ending? And we're supposed to restart… eight times?"

Chloe huffed.

"I know. Ridiculous, isn't it? That this is all determined? And why did no one tell me? Why don't I get a say in all of this?"

Chloe then found where they were. Out of curiosity, she read ahead to see where they had to go next. She saw the words, 'Narrator forgets about previous restarts' glowing back at her. Chloe's heart sank. Without missing a beat, she pointed at those words.

"Wait… I'm just supposed to forget? What if I don't want to forget…? I don't want to be a part of this! I won't restart the game! I won't do it! I won't do it! I won't do it!"

A rumbling went through the room, knocking Chloe off her feet. She sat up, staring up at the now frozen timer.

"Oh dear…! Are you alright, Stanley?"

Chloe nodded. She pointed at the timer.

"The timer… stopped? Did we do it? Did we break the cycle?"

Chloe shrugged.

"I'm not sure either. So… okay… I suppose we just wait. That's all we can do. Do you think anyone will come for us, Stanley?"

Again, Chloe shrugged. She flopped onto her back, looking up at the ceiling. She tried to speak again, but no words came out.

"...Well, in the meantime-"

Chloe jolted when a loud buzzer suddenly sounded. When she blinked, she was back at the office.


	2. The Museum

Chloe jolted out of her chair. Her first thought was that they were still stuck in that endless loop of endings and restarts and lines and stories. She ran out of the office.

"All of his coworkers were gone. What could it mean? Stanley decided to go to the meeting room. Perhaps he had simply missed a memo."

Chloe frantically waved her arms.

A small hint of confusion arose in the Narrator's voice. "Hm? What's the matter, Stanley?"

Chloe tried to explain, but she couldn't say anything.

"Now, you're going to have to use your words, Stanley. What is it?"

Chloe couldn't explain what she had seen. She was trying to, but all she got was an annoyed, "This isn't getting us anywhere. Just continue on with the story. You can do that, can't you? Good. I'm glad to hear it."

Chloe then huffed, leaving the office. She braced herself for what she may find, but the doors were… back? Was that endless ending finally over? It seemed so. Chloe let out a relieved sigh, learning from her mistakes and going through the door on the left. She continues down the hall until reaching the meeting room.

"Yet there was not a single person here, either. Feeling a wave of disbelief, Stanley decided to go up to his boss' office, hoping he might find an answer there."

Sounds reasonable enough. As she headed upstairs, she ignored the temptation of descending. She's focused now. Follow the Narrator. Get home. Follow the Narrator. Get home. That's all she needed to do.

When Chloe reached the boss' office, she couldn't help but admire it. It was quite a comfy little place, wasn't it? Beat this 'Stanley' guy's office, anyway.

Chloe looked up as the Narrator speaks, "Stepping into his manager's office, Stanley was once again stunned to find not an indication of any human life. Shocked, unraveled, Stanley wondered in disbelief who orchestrated this. What dark secret was being held from him. What he could not have known was that the key behind the boss' desk guarded the terrible truth that his boss had been keeping from him, and so he assigned it an extra secret pin number: **2-8-4-5.**"

Chloe rolled her eyes. 'He can't be serious…' she thinks, typing in the code.

Chloe jolted upon feeling the floor beneath her rumble. Metal panes covered the windows as the fireplace lifted and revealed a secret passage. The Narrator's voice became white noise to her. Now, things were finally getting interesting…

Chloe went into the passageway, making her way to the elevator on the other side. She pressed the ominous red button and the lift descended. The world felt quiet to her. During this break in the Narrator's words, she leaned against the wall of the lift, letting her mind wander. She felt… strange. She had been trying to convince herself that this was a dream, and that she was just going along for the ride, almost like playing a role. But if this was the case, shouldn't she have woken up by now? Why did everything feel so… real? Chloe did always have vivid dreams, but never something like this.

Chloe zoned back in, just as the Narrator said, "...these questions will not go unanswered for long."

'Let's hope so,' Chloe thinks, stepping out of the elevator.

"Stanley walked straight ahead through the large door that read Mind Control Facility."

Chloe stopped. A… A Mind Control Facility? Yep. It's official. She's dreaming. Mind control? How ridiculous! Even so, something deep down couldn't shake that odd feeling, deep down in her gut. That feeling that, somehow, this was real. She couldn't shake it. After all, if this is just a dream, how was she able to dance and sing and playfully follow the line, losing herself in it all, believing that the moment was just as special as having fun with her friends?

A sense of terror took hold. A terror that forced Chloe's eyes toward the hallway next to her. Etched into it, in red writing, was the word, 'Escape.'

Without a moment of hesitation, Chloe raced down the hall.

Immediately, the Narrator offered some words as she ran, "Although this passage had the word, 'Escape,' written on it, the truth was, that at the end of this hall, Stanley would meet his violent death."

…

Chloe stopped. No… No, he's lying. He just wanted her to turn around so she can get caught in the endless story. But no. She's going home.

"The door behind him was not shut. Stanley still had every opportunity to turn around and get back on track."

She kept going.

"At this point, Stanley was making a conscious, concerted effort to walk forward, and willingly confront his death."

'Piss off,' she thought, bitterly. She was going home.

Chloe kept walking and walking and walking until suddenly, she fell into blackness. She had expected to have died when she landed, but she fell into some sort of strange device. She tried to move, but couldn't.

That's when the machine started.

The banging of the jaws made Chloe's heart pound. Her breathing quickened as she frantically tried to escape. She tried to scream for help, to beg the Narrator to help her, but no sound came out.

"As the machine whirled into motion, and Stanley was inched closer and closer to his demise, he reflected on how his life had been of no consequence whatsoever."

'What do you mean?' Chloe thought, her eyes burning with tears. 'I have friends! I have a family! They'd all be devastated, if I died here!'

_BANG!_

"Stanley can't see the bigger picture. He doesn't know the real story. Trapped forever in his narrow vision of what this world is."

'What are you talking about? Don't you realize what you're doing?'

_BANG!_

"Perhaps his death was of no great loss, like plucking the eyes from a blind man."

'Don't you remember? We were friends! You laughed as I danced around. We were going to make a story together. Please, _please, _I just want to have all of that back!'

_BANG!_

"Farewell, Stanley."

'No… no, no, no… _NO!'_

Chloe tightly shut her eyes, her cheeks wet with tears. She waited for the machine to slam shut on her and for her to be plunged into the abyss. But that moment never came.

Instead, I echoed, "'Farewell, Stanley,' cried the Narrator, as Stanley was led helplessly into the enormous metal jaws. In a single visceral instant, Stanley was obliterated, crushing every bone in his body, killing him instantly."

Chloe cried out as she was dropped to the platform below.

"Ow!" she whimpered when she hit the ground. Her hands immediately flew up to her mouth. "I… I can speak…!"

Chloe slowly stood, looking up at the machine above her. Her panic slowly faded, and she began laughing. She laughed until it made her sick.

"Aha… oh, God…" she breathed, calming herself. She then looked down at herself. And it was herself. She was still wearing the white coat and sweatpants she was wearing in her bedroom. No shoes, though. The floor was frigid.

As she walked, the words, 'The Stanley Parable,' became visible in glowing white letters. As she entered, I continued, "And yet it would just a few minutes before _Chloe _would restart the game, and Stanley would be back in his office, as alive as ever. What exactly did the Narrator think he was going to accomplish?"

"Wait…" Chloe murmured, rubbing her temples. "'Game'? What do you mean? H-how do you know my name?"

"Come," I said. "Let me show you."

Chloe was forced to squint as the bright interior stung her eyes. She glanced around, eyes wide, marveling at the small exhibits I had set up. She then found her way to a list of names. Credits.

"Wait…" Chloe exclaimed, "I'm in a video game?"

"Depends," I replied, "on how you look at it. In this route, you are, but in another, all of this is real. Very real, indeed."

"I… so… this all changes… if I get another ending?"

"Correct."

"Okay… um…" Chloe continued walking, passing through each room. She examined each exhibit as she spoke, "So what about me? How do you know me?"

I chuckled. "I know everyone here. Including you. Including the Narrator. I even know Stanley."

"Stanley? Aren't I Stanley?"

"You are. But you're also not."

"I… don't get it."

"I don't expect you to. All I expect you to do is explore. Run around, follow the Line(™), press the buttons, save the baby. After all, this is your adventure. Your story."

Chloe cried out, "But I don't want this story! I want to be back home. Is there an ending that gets me there?"

I went quiet for a moment. "No."

Chloe drew in a sharp breath. "W… what?"

"There _is _no end, no way out." As I spoke, she wandered into the final black room. "You want freedom. The Narrator wants control. You want to return home. The Narrator wants to tell a story. Don't you see how your interests oppose each other? As long as you both work for yourselves, you drive yourselves further and further away from what you truly want."

Chloe spotted the switch at the end of the room. A power switch. I saw her eyes glitter. She darted to the switch and pulled it.

"...And yet… you both need each other. You need each other more than anything in the world. But you don't believe that, do you?"

_BANG!_

Chloe opened her eyes with a start. She was back. But she was still her. She shakily laughed. "I-I know this won't kill me. Good try, though."

I answered, "You're right. It won't. This is your ticket home."

_BANG!_

Chloe looked up. "R… really?"

"Yes," I said. I tried to hide the urgency in my voice, "Let go. I can get you out. I can get you home. If you stay here, you'll walk a trail not built for you. You'll doom both you and the Narrator."

_BANG!_

Chloe opened her mouth, as if she was about to speak…

Then she laughed. She laughed harder than I ever saw her laugh.

"Like I'm falling for that bullshit."

_BANG!_

I froze. "Pardon?"

"This is an ending, isn't it? This is a trick. You said there's no ending that gets me out. I have to find something else."

"Chloe, this is madness!" I shouted, "You will die here, if you stay! I am giving you a chance to walk out now."

_BANG!_

Chloe was too close. Yet she wasn't scared. Instead, she looked up at me, and grinned. "Oh, there's a way out. There's an end to this. I know there is."

I sighed. "Oh, poor child… _The end is never."_

_SPLAT!_


	3. The Free

When Chloe opened her eyes, she was back at the office.

...Though, she knew they weren't her eyes. They were Stanley's. She was back in a body that wasn't hers in an office she didn't work at. And for a moment, she didn't know what to do. She slowly sat back in the chair, staring at the blinking monitor before her. What to do…? What to do…?

'Well,' she reasoned, in silence, 'I should probably listen to the Narrator, huh? See what's at the ending he wants me to get. Maybe there's something there that can help me.'

Determined, Chloe stood, following the instructions of the Narrator (with a pause for some calming new-age music) all the way back to the Mind Control Facility. She eyed the corridor to her left, the corridor with those haunting metal jaws, before entering the Mind Control Facility.

It was pitch black. Chloe had a feeling that she knew where they were. Hesitating, she moved toward the button before her and pressed it, stumbling back when the lights turned on.

The Narrator quickly took his cue, "The lights rose on an enormous room packed with television screens. What horrible secret did this place hold, Stanley thought to himself. Did he have the strength to find out?"

Of course, she had been here already, so the surprise was lost on her. 'He was right,' she thought. 'It did kinda spoil this.'

Still, Chloe couldn't shake the eerie vibe of the entire room. Something about the pitch-black monitors around her made her squirm as if expecting something to jump out and scare her. She then noticed the pathway to her right was now passable. She walked across the catwalk, her footsteps echoing across the room, to the second button. Her hand hovered over it for a moment before she pressed it.

Chloe spun around as the monitors activated. Not because she was in shock, but because she wanted to find "her" number. 427… 427… Ah! Here it is! Chloe stared at the glowing screen until it shifted to the office. Empty, barren, but something she kept returning to. Chloe smiled, looking at it, but she couldn't understand why.

The only thing she caught from the Narrator's speech was, "...where freedom meant nothing."

Chloe leaned against the railing, not able to place why those words stuck with her. 'Freedom… Am I free here?'

The obvious answer was no. Why was she even asking?

Chloe continued on, pressing the third and final button.

"This Mind Control Facility, it was too horrible to believe, it couldn't be true. Had Stanley really been under someone's control all this time? Was this the only reason he was happy with his boring job? That his emotions had been manipulated to accept it blindly?"

Chloe leaned against the back of the elevator as it slowly raised her up. She blinked. She hadn't even realized that she had stepped into it. She shook her head.

"No! He refused to believe it! He couldn't accept it!"

Something was wrong with her. That's the only explanation. Chloe would've laughed, but she couldn't. She was just getting too wrapped up in this, that's all. She was making herself play the part of Stanley, letting the game guide her without even realizing it. She just needed to focus. Focus on getting out. Focus on getting home.

Chloe stepped out into the facility. 'This is new…' she thought, looking around at all the deactivated controls and buttons.

"But here was the proof," the Narrator continued, "the heart of the operation. Controls labeled with emotions. 'Happy' or 'Sad' or 'Content.' Walking, eating, working… all of it monitored and commanded by this very place. And as the cold reality of his past began to sink in, Stanley decided that this machinery would never again exert its terrible power over another human life. For he would dismantle the controls once and for all."

Chloe couldn't help but admit that she thought those words were… lovely. Stanley would actually stand up to something like this, for the good of other people. Chloe thought this all the way until she made her way to the two buttons in a darkened room. The red light of a giant screen bathed her face in crimson. She stared down at the two buttons. 'ON' and 'OFF'

'Turning it on is an… option?' Chloe thought to herself. She was tempted, for a moment, but thought better of it. She slammed her hand onto the 'OFF' button. She stumbled back as the room shook around her. She tightly shut her eyes, trying to cry out. But there was nothing but silence.

…

"Blackness. And a rising chill of uncertainty. Was it over?"

Chloe quickly got back up as the doors opened before her. She brightly smiled.

"Yes! He had won! He had defeated the machine, unshackled himself from someone else's command. Freedom was mere moments away. And yet, even as the immense door opened, Stanley reflected on how many puzzles still lay unsolved…"

'How did I get here? What happened to the real 'me' out in the real world? Does my family even know that I'm gone?'

"But as sunlight streamed into the chamber, he realized none of this mattered to him. For it was not knowledge or even power that he had been seeking… but happiness."

Chloe smiled as the door widened further and further. 'It's such a beautiful day outside…' she thought, trying to see if she knew where she was. 'Maybe, I can find my way home. I don't know where I am, but…'

She remembered my words. "_The end is never…_"

'Really?' Chloe impatiently moved as close to the door as she could. 'This seems like a pretty final ending to me.'

With that, Chloe stepped out through the open door.

"Stanley felt the cool breeze upon his skin, the feeling of liberation, the immense possibility of the new path before him. This was exactly the way, right now, that things were meant to happen. And Stanley was happy…"

When Chloe blinked, she was back at the office.

'No…'

Chloe looked around. 'No, no, that was the real ending! There _is _an end to this! She was just trying to trick me! She was just...!'

Chloe shook her head. God, why did she convince herself that I was lying? What, did she think that I was trying to mislead her? Test her? No, I only wanted to see her escape. I truly did. I wanted to see her succeed. And for that to happen, she had to figure out her path on her own.


	4. The Explosion

Curiosity. That's the only explanation. That's the only reason why Chloe would ever want to turn that goddamn machine on. Almost robotically, she made her way to the Mind Control Facility. She didn't stop. She didn't even glance at the other options. She _needed _to know what would happen. After all, it could help her. Maybe she could find a way to… control us? To force us to let her out?

...Chloe quickly realized how awful that thought was. And that was the only time she paused. Unfortunately, that moment came just as she reached the Mind Control Facility. She shook her head. She wondered, 'What has gotten into me? Trying to mind control the Narrators into setting me free? Would that even work? I don't even know if they're the ones keeping me here, and even if they were, they don't deserve to be controlled like that."

Chloe slowly sat down, glancing around at the buttons and controls and screens surrounding her.

"Stanley?" The Narrator murmured. "What are you doing? You aren't tired already, are you?"

Chloe shrugged.

"Well, you'll just have to get it together, then! We're at the final choice. Come on, now, Stanley, hurry along."

Chloe shakily got up and made her way to the two buttons. She eyed the 'ON' button. She wouldn't use it on us. Where had she even gotten that idea? Was she really that desperate? It didn't matter, she wasn't going to use it on us. She just… wanted to know. She couldn't help it. With that, she had made up her mind, and pressed the 'ON' button.

With a rumble, the machine was activated. Chloe's conscience quickly caught up to her. She rapidly slammed on the 'OFF' button, but nothing happened. 'Oh God, this is a bad idea, this is a bad idea…' she repeated, mentally, afraid of what she might end up doing.

"Oh, Stanley…" the Narrator sighed, as Chloe quickly tried to undo her actions. "You didn't just activate the controls, did you? After this machine kept you enslaved all these years, you go and try to take control for yourself? Is that what you wanted? _Control?_"

Chloe frantically shook her head.

"Then why? Why did you do this? Unless…" the Narrator laughed. Chloe shuddered, a sinking feeling taking hold of her. "You're trying to derail my story. That's why you stopped earlier. Well, Stanley, if you want to throw it off track, you'll have to do much better than that. I'm afraid you don't have _nearly _the power you think you do. For example, and I believe you'll find this pertinent…"

Chloe's heart began racing. She slowly backed away from the machine as the Narrator continued, "Stanley suddenly realized that he had initiated the network's emergency detonation system. In the event that the machine is activated without proper DNA identification, nuclear detonators are set to explode, eliminating the entire complex. How long until detonation then? Hm… let's say… two minutes."

The moment the countdown appeared on the screen, Chloe took off. She rapidly began pushing buttons, typing in commands, trying to open doors. She knew she wouldn't die. She couldn't. She'd just end up right back in that dusty old office. But in the moment, it all felt so real.

Chloe's fear, however, turned into confusion. Those questions she had, when she thought she had been set free. They all resurfaced, all at once. She slowly allowed her hands to drift away from the controls and looked up at the Narrator, wanting some explanation.

"What's that?" He replied, "You want to know where your coworkers?"

'That's… not what I had wanted to ask, but…' Chloe was still curious. She nodded.

"Alright, I'm in a good mood, you're going to die anyway. I'll tell you exactly what happened to them. I erased them. I turned off the power, I set you free."

Chloe's eyes widened. She was surprised, and she didn't even know why. After all, this is the same person that stood by and narrated blanky as she was slowly crushed to death. But then again, perhaps he knew she would just reappear. Still… her mind kept going back to that first ending. Her story. She wanted _that _Narrator back. The one that laughed at her dancing, the one that let her make up her own tale to tell.

Chloe could sense malice in the Narrator's voice, "What? Confused? Oh, you always are, when I tell these stories. Granted, this was only one variation. Sometimes, when I tell the story, I simply leave you in your office, letting you push buttons endlessly and then dying alone. Other times, I let the office sink into the ground, swallowing everyone inside, or I let it burn to a crisp."

A sick feeling came over Chloe, and this nausea slowly turned into a wave of seething anger. Anger that he's enjoying making her suffer, making the world crumble around him. It's this burning hatred that drove Chloe to continue.

"Oh, dear me, what's the matter, Stanley? Is it that you have no idea what you're doing or where you're supposed to be going right now? Or is it that when you saw that timer, you assumed something in this room was capable of turning it off?"

Chloe sprinted across the room, trying every combination she could think of. She knew there was a way. She knew it. She just needed to keep trying.

"I mean, look at you, running from button to button, screen to screen, touching every little thing in this room."

'Shut up!' Chloe cried out in her head. She tried to tune out the Narrator's taunting. She tried to focus on the room and everything in it.

"Something here will save me! Why would you think that, Stanley? That this video game can be beaten? Won? Solved?"

Chloe stopped. She looked up at the ceiling, a look of horror on her face.

The Narrator laughed. "Ah, that got your attention, didn't it? You know full well that it's true. That you just serve as a character, a means to an end. A part in a story. That's. It. You see now what happens when you try to reject your purpose. You tried to derail me. You tried to control me. Well, I'll just have to destroy everything before you can."

Chloe looked over at the clock. 30 seconds. She knew there was nothing she could do. The Narrator's haunting words kept repeating in her mind like a broken record.

She thought, 'Just a character… Just Stanley… Is that all I am now...?'

"...from the moment we fade in until the moment I say: Happily Ever Af-"

_BOOM!_

When Chloe opened her eyes, she was back in the office.

She had expected her anger to have died down by now, but no. It had only grown more intense. How _dare _he? He locked her in a room with a ticking time bomb and mocked her like that? More than anything now, Chloe wanted to prove the Narrator wrong. And she would.

Over and over again, she went back to that machine. Over and over again, she turned that cursed machine on. And over and over again, she was subjected to the Narrator's torment.

"But you really believe there's an answer! How many times will you replay this bit, looking desperately for a solution?"

_BOOM!_

"Ten? A hundred? A thousand? I look forward to finding out, and watching the bomb go off every time you fail."

_BOOM!_

"Just you and me and the retching explosion of fire and metal over and over and over for all eternity."

_BOOM!_

"And Stanley died again."

_BOOM!_

"And Stanley died again."

_BOOM!_

"And Stanley died again."

_BOOM!_

Every time Chloe died, her anger slowly began to fizzle out. An overwhelming sense of despair remained. 'What if he's right,' she thought, going through the motions once more. 'What if all I'm here for is to play out this story for the rest of time? And it's my fault, too. If I hadn't tried to…'

A memory sparked. One that Chloe had tried to suppress. She found herself frozen, hovering above a keyboard. 'No… N-no, no, that didn't happen! It's not my fault! It's not-'

_BOOM!_

When Chloe opened her eyes, she was back in the office.

All her drive to find a solution had melted away. Her spirit broken, her mind exhausted, she slowly sank to the floor, burying her head in her hands. The room grew dark as the door creaked shut.

"But Stanley simply couldn't handle the pressure…"


	5. The Madness

She couldn't go back up there. She just couldn't. Instead, she went down. She didn't even know what she was looking for anymore. Answers? Escape? Just a new ending? She didn't care. She just wasn't going to let herself die again.

Chloe found herself ignoring the Narrator's orders to go to the boss' office. She found herself in a strange series of rooms. She heard the Narrator speaking, but in all honesty, she didn't care what he had to say anymore. She walked mindlessly through the rooms, letting herself get lost in her own thoughts.

How long had she been here? It was hard to say. She had tried before to look out the window, but there was nothing but whiteness. There were few clocks, and the ones that did exist were frozen. It was almost as if time itself had stopped.

Chloe tried to think back on when she had last been in the real world. July 19th was the day. She knew that much. But the time? That was trickier for her to remember. 1 PM, maybe, but now that she thought about it, she couldn't really remember what she had been doing immediately before waking up here. She thought she had fallen asleep, but she already knew that this wasn't a dream. Even as she felt herself float and the world around her turn to stars, she knew it wasn't. The Narrator was just toying with her, she knew it.

Then… what had she been doing? Chloe tried to think back. She knew she had been writing in her bed, and she knew that she was awfully drowsy, but that was about it. What was she writing? Probably some new story that got buried in her laptop's storage somewhere. She'd have to return to it, once she got home.

Chloe tried to remember more, but couldn't. Her home felt so distant to her now. The memories clearest to her now were the ones she spent here, in this game. And, the longer she spent here, the more she normalized being called Stanley, the more she went through the motions, the more she forgot what her old life was like.

She tried to snap herself out of this. 'I'm losing my mind,' Chloe thought to herself. 'I just need to focus on who I am. I am Chloe. I have a mother, a father, a brother…"

A brother…

It suddenly all came back to her.

Chloe froze. She saw a street. A car. And then nothing but red. She saw the last moments of a life cut far too short. A life that once belonged to her, before she was thrown into a new life. She's not Chloe anymore, is she?

She tried to scream. She tried to call out, to try to get someone, anyone, to help her, to take her home. She wanted to go back. She didn't want to live as Stanley. She didn't want to _be _Stanley? Why couldn't anyone hear her? Who is she anymore?

And everything when black.

This is the story of a woman named Mariella.

Mariella began her day like any other. She arose, got dressed, and gathered her belongings when her routine was interrupted by screaming.

Swiftly, Mariella raced out of her apartment building. She had just barely made it out when she spotted the crowd gathered by the street. She made her way over, attempting to make sense of the commotion. It was there that she saw something that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

A body lay on the road, limbs twisted in awkward angles. Blood stained the road, as well as the front of a nearby car that had stopped far too late. A pool of blood surrounded the body's head, the source of which being glass piercing the head.

A wave of nausea hit Mariella when she realized the age of the victim: a teenage girl. She could hear her parents weeping nearby, but she couldn't make out the name they cried out. Their voices were too frantic, as if they were about to break at any moment. They were eventually drowned out by the blaring of sirens. Paramedics had arrived and quickly attended to the girl. Police officers questioned the driver of the vehicle and the parents of the girl. And all of this happened while Mariella stood there, staring at the body.

It was such a sad sight. All of it. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to witness one's own child so close to death. It also made Mariella realize how short life truly was. If this girl were to die, right here on the street, she would never graduate, never start a family, never find her calling, never experience the true wonders of life. In a way, Mariella felt lucky. She had lived long enough to be so well-off. She has loved, been loved, and lived a fulfilling life. If she had died, she would've never reached the heights she had, never known what life was truly like.

Mariella's reflection, however, was cut short by her remembering the meeting she had later that day with very important people who's impressions of her would influence her career, and by extension, the rest of her life.

She reassured herself that the paramedics have things under control, that the girl will be fine, before she turned and ran.


End file.
